Providing a user with a web-supplement

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method of providing a user with a web-browser supplement is disclosed. One method includes providing access to a focal group, wherein the focal group includes at least one member having at least one association with the user. Access is provided to information associated with the at least one member having relevance to the focal group. Web browsing by the user is supplemented by the information of the members of the focal group.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application patent application is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/316,992, filed on Dec. 18, 2008, whichclaims priority to provisional patent application No. 61/008,957, filedDec. 21, 2007, which in herein incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE DESCRIBED EMBODIMENTS

The described embodiments relate generally to web browsing. Moreparticularly, the described embodiments relate to a method and apparatusfor supplementing a user's web browsing.

BACKGROUND

The internet can connect individuals through, for example, a mesh ofsocial networks, portals, commerce sites and forums. Many of these sitesattempt to model relationships to facilitate commerce and build systemsfor providing recommendations. These social networks include manyindividuals that can interact with each other.

There is a lack, however, of a useful mechanism within social networksfor mimicking interpersonal trust and reference networks. For example,if one needs to find a babysitter, a heart surgeon or a plumber, onegenerally turns to trusted friends to obtain references. That is, thesereferred service providers involve the well-being of family, and/orimpact ones finances, and therefore, are typically naturally screened bythe person looking for a reference. However, the recommendationsprovided by social networks do not include a personal connection betweenthe recommender and the receiver of the recommendation. Additionally,the strength of the recommendations can be difficult to determine.

It is desirable to have a method, system and apparatus in which groupsof commonly associated individuals can provide an internet user that isweb browsing with additional intelligence. It is additionally desirablethat the method, system and apparatus be adaptively updated asinformation associated with the groups change over time.

SUMMARY

One embodiment includes a method of providing a user with a web-browsersupplement. The method includes providing access to a focal group,wherein the focal group includes at least one member having at least oneassociation with the user. Access is provided to information associatedwith the at least one member having relevance to the focal group. Webbrowsing by the user is supplemented by information of the members ofthe focal group.

Another embodiment includes a method of overlaying web browsing withfocal group intelligence. The method includes creating a focal group,wherein the focal group includes at least one other user having at leastone association with the user. Information about the at least one otheruser having relevance to the focal group is obtained. Web browsing bythe user is over-layed, thereby supplementing the web browsing by theuser by providing information of the other users of the focal group.

Other aspects and advantages of the described embodiments will becomeapparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example theprinciples of the described embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example of a user computing device that can utilizemethods of supplementing web browsing of the user.

FIG. 2 shows the computing device of FIG. 1, and examples ofsupplementing web pages being browsed by the user.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart that includes steps of an example of a method ofsupplementing a user's web browsing.

FIG. 4A shows an example of a visual display that can be used toadaptively depict relationships between a user and members of a focalgroup.

FIG. 4B shows another example of a visual display that can be used toadaptively depict relationships between a user and members of a focalgroup.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart that includes steps of an example of a method ofoverlaying web browsing with focal group intelligence.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration, the describedembodiments are embodied in an apparatus and method for supplementingweb browsing of a user. The web browsing can be of any form includingtextual, audio or visual formats, and can be supplemented with anycombinations of textual, audio or visual formats, or any other formatthat can be used for web browsing.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a computing device 110 that can utilizemethods of supplementing web browsing of a user of the computing device110. For this embodiment, the user's computing devices includes aplug-in 120. An embodiment of the plug-in 120 is a software program thatwhen executed supplements the user's web browsing by supplementinginformation provided by the web browsing with information associatedwith a focal group. That is, the user's web browsing is improved bymanipulating the information provided to the user based on intelligenceand information provided by members of the focal group, or obtained bymembers of the focal group.

As shown, the computing device 110 is connected through a network 130 toweb server 140 and a focal group server 150. For this example, the webserver 140 allows the user to “surf” internet, and access web pages. Theweb pages provide the user with information related to a subject asgenerally (but not exclusively) determined by the user. The web server140 and the focal group server 150 are shown as separate servers.However, it is to be understood that this is merely one example of howaccess to web page information and focal group information can beprovided.

As shown, the focal group server 150 maintains information of the focalgroup. Generally, this information includes the members of one or morefocal groups that have some relationship with the user. Additionally,the focal group server 150 can maintain information of each user of eachfocal group. As will be described, the members of the focal group can beone or more individuals and/or corporate entities. The focal group canbe created, or borrowed from somewhere else. The information associatedwith each member can include many things, such as, for example,preferences, knowledge, history of interactions with the user, and/orexperiences of the member. Additionally, the focal group information canbe supplemented with focal group applications.

Supplementing Web Browsing

Supplementing the user's web browsing can be provided in one or moreways. The web browsing can be supplemented by, for example, providingadditional information to information provided by a web page, filteringinformation of the web page, and/or sorting information of the web page.Again, the supplementation is based on the information associated withmembers of the focal group, and therefore, the intelligence of the focalgroup members can be used to the advantage of the user when webbrowsing.

Focal Groups

Generally, a focal group is a small restricted group of people who areassociated based on activity or topic. The focal group can include, forexample, a group of friends, family members or people with commoninterests. As will be described, a focal group can include any number ofmembers. The member can be individual people or even corporate entities.The focal group can include, for example, a single person who isconsidered an expert in a particular subject area, or the focal groupcan include many individual who are commonly associated by some activityor other criteria. The focal groups can be formed, or borrowed fromsomewhere else.

Focal Group Information

As described, web browsing of the user is supplemented by the focalgroup information. The focal group information can include, for example,a proficiency of group members, a degree of affinity between groupmembers, a history of proficiency and affinity of group members, amember's rating by group members, reviews and/or opinions of the member,any information contributed by members, events involving a group member,actions taken by a group member, requests for information put in byother group members for a group member, and/or member ownership of aproduct or usage of a service. It is to be understood that an embodimentincludes the focal group information being dynamic. Actions by each ofthe focal group member can cause the focal group information to change.

The described embodiments can include various types of informationassociated with the members of the focal group. One type of informationis the affinity of each focal group member with the user. The affinitycan be adaptive, and is generally based on the strength of therelationship and level of interaction between the each focal groupmember and the user. The affinity can be “deduced” and/or “assigned”. Anassigned affinity is one that is given by one focal group member toanother, based on an individual perception or information. A deducedaffinity is one that is computed automatically from several assignedaffinities, based on one or more affinity formulas.

For other embodiments, another type of information is a proficiency ofeach focal group member. The proficiency can be adaptive based on thelevel of competence and/or expertise regarding a subject matter.Proficiency can be “deduced” and/or “assigned”. An assigned proficiencyis one that is given by one focal group member to another, based on anindividual perception or information. A deduced proficiency is one thatis adaptively computed automatically from several assignedproficiencies.

For other embodiments, another type of information includes focal groupapplications that can, for example, extend the overlay and run withinthe framework of overlay. An example of a focal group applicationincludes, for example, an “add to wish list” application, that includesan icon displayed on a web page, such that when the icon is clicked(selected), it adds a given item (displayed on the original web page) toa focal group member's wish list. (A wish list in this context is a listof items that the user wishes to own—the list is maintained by the focalgroup user so that other users can access it, and provide, for example,gift ideas).

Overlay

As described, an embodiment of the supplementing the user's web browsingincludes providing the user with a web overlay. The overlay provides anintelligent software framework that runs focal group applications,supplements, filters, sorts and displays the browsed information.

Overlay Plug In

An embodiment of the overlay plug in includes a software componentinstalled on a user's computer. For an embodiment, the plug in isinstalled in a web browser as an extension. For an embodiment, thepurpose of the plug in is to provide the user with access to Focal Groupservers and communicate with the servers. More specifically, thisembodiment includes sending contextual information describing the weblocation being visited by the user, and/or receiving instructions andinformation and/or knowledge enabling the plug-in software to supplementthe browsed info.

FIG. 2 shows the computing device of FIG. 1, and examples ofsupplementing web pages being browsed by the user. FIG. 2 includes twoexemplary web pages 210, 220 that have been supplemented by informationof a focal group.

The web page 210 provides an example of a web overlay that supplements aweb page being displayed by the computing device 110 by providingadditional information to the display that is, for example, related tothe information of the original web page being displayed by thecomputing device. The additional information provides the user withrelated information from a more likely to be trusted source (the focalgroup). The web page 210 as viewed by the user includes the original webpage text, but additionally includes the overlay 212 that includessupplement text that can be related to the information of the web page.The supplemental text of the overlay is derived or based on theinformation associated with the members of the focal group.

The web page 220 provides another example of a web overlay thatsupplements a web page displayed by a computing device 110 by filteringinformation of the web page 220. That is, based on the information ofthe focal group, information of the original web page is filtered,thereby providing the web user with a better presentation of theoriginal web page based on the information of the members of the focalgroup. The overlay 214 can include filtered or sorted information of theinformation associated with focal group. For one embodiment, the sortingamid/or filtering of the information associated with the focal group isbased on the information of the web page 220. That is, either or boththe information of the web page, or the information presented by theoverlay 214, can be filtered and/or sorted based on the other of theinformation of the web page and the information presented by the overlay214.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart that includes steps of an example of a method ofsupplementing a user's web browsing. A first step 310 includes providingaccess to a focal group, the focal group comprising at least one memberhaving at least one association with the user. A second step 320includes providing access to information associated with the at leastone member having relevance to the focal group. A third step 330includes supplementing web browsing by the user by providing informationof the members of the focal group.

As previously described, one embodiment includes a plug-in loaded on theuser's computer, that when executed, supplements the user's webbrowsing. A more specific embodiment includes the plug-in providing theuser with a web-browser overlay. Execution of the plug-in provides theuser with the web overlay that supplements web browsing by the user.More specifically, one embodiment includes the web overlay providing theinformation associated with the at least one member that has relevanceto the web browsing of the user. Other embodiments include the weboverlay filtering, and/or sorting information of, for example, a webpage based on the information associated with the at least one focalgroup member.

For proper operation, the plug-in has access to the focal group, and tothe information associated with the at least one member of the focalgroup. As previously described, the access can be through a networkconnected to the user's computer, and to one or more servers thatmaintain the members of the focal group, and the information associatedwith each of the users of the focal group.

As previously described, an embodiment for supplementing the webbrowsing includes an overlay. Based on information of, for example, webpage being browsed by the user, an embodiment includes the overlayproviding at least some of the information of the at least one member ofthe focal group. The web browsing of the user is supplemented byproviding the user with focal group intelligence. That is, theinformation provided by the overlay enhances and improves the user's webbrowsing by providing the user with additional intelligence as providedby the information of each of the members of the focal group.

One embodiment includes the information provided by the overlay relatingto information of a web page being browsed by the user. That is, theoverlay supplements the web browsing by providing additional information(focal group information) that is related to the information beingprovided by the web site. Additional information can include, forexample, past experiences of one or more of the focal group members,and/or recommendations by the one or more focal group members based onthe past experiences.

The overlay can additionally or alternatively use the information of thefocal group to filters information of the web browsing. That is, theinformation provided by web browsing can be filtered based on theinformation of the focal group. All of the information provided be a webpage may not be useful, and the user's web browsing can in somesituations be improved by filtering the information of the web page. Onemethod of filtering the information includes filtering it based oninformation of the members of the focal group.

For example, a user can visit on online book store and view a pagedisplaying a set of books. However, if the user has the overlay plug-inenabled, the displayed set of books may be a subset of the originalresults of the query, wherein the subset displayed is based on thefiltering performed by the overlay plug-in. That is, for example, onlythe books owned or reviewed by members of the Focal Group, or by membershaving a certain affinity to the user or proficiency in the subjectmatter may be displayed.

The overlay can additionally or alternatively use the information of thefocal group to sorts information of the web browsing based on theinformation of the at least one member of the focal group. That is, theinformation of the web can be sorted based on the information of thefocal group.

For example, a user can visit a website that provides restaurantreviews, and the user can submit a query to find a good restaurant in aparticular area. Originally (without the overlay), the results of thequery that are returned by the website, for example, is sorted byratings given by random reviewers. However, if the user has the overlayplug-in enabled, the sorting of the displayed results are furtherimproved by strategically positioning the reviews produced by themembers of the user's focal group who have high affinity or highproficiency in the subject (restaurant knowledge).

The overlay can additionally or alternatively filter the informationprovided by the overlay based upon the information of the web page. Forexample, if a user is visiting a photography website, one embodimentincludes the overlay plug-in displaying information about only thosemembers of the user's focal group that have relevance to the browsedpage(s) in the photography website. For example, a user looking at acamera review of a website views (on the display) only the informationof those members of the focal group who have reviewed or own the camera.

An embodiment of the overlay includes highlighting at least one web pagewith visual identifiers. The visual identifiers are related to theinformation associated with the at least one member having relevance tothe focal group.

For example, if a user is browsing products at an online tennis gearstore, each product can be visually annotated by the overlay plug-inwith icons that reflect information from the focal group relevant tothat product. Furthermore, the user can be allowed to click on (select)an icon to submit the information about the product he/she would like tobe reviewed by the focal group.

it is to understood that the visual identifier include any one of manydifferent implementations. That is, for example, the visual identifiersdo not have to be icons. Additionally, other types of iterations betweenthe user and other focal group members can be initiated by the visualidentifiers.

For another example, the visual overlay depicts the affinity map of theuser with the members of the focal group, and highlighting those membersthat are relevant to the browsed page. Exemplary affinity maps areprovided in FIGS. 4A, 4B.

Another embodiment of the overlay further includes at least one offetching or requesting the information of the at least one member of thefocal group. For example, a user may click on icon provided by theoverlay next to a product to request a specific member of the focalgroup to provide an opinion or a review about the product. Thisembodiment is very useful because it enables rapidly growth of theinformation of the entire focal group network, therefore making theoverlay more powerful. Another embodiment allows, for example, a user toclick (select) an icon, allowing the user to customize a review form andsend it to members of the focal group.

It is to be understood that there can be methods other than the use ofan overlay for at least one of filtering, sorting or appendinginformation to information of a web page based on the informationassociated with the at least one member. That is, an overlay as shownand described here is one method of supplementing web browsing. Othermethods of supplementing web browsing based on the information of afocal group are also possible.

An embodiment includes ranking the information associated with themembers of the focal group. The general reasoning being that higherranked information can have a greater influence on how the web browsingof the user is supplemented. For example, one focal group member may beidentified as being a particularly good expert on the subject matter ofthe web page being accessed by the user. Accordingly an embodimentincludes the information associated with the at least one member havingrelevance to the focal group, being ranked by a level of importance. Forone embodiment the ranking of the level of importance of information isinfluenced by a perceived level of importance of each of the at leastone member associated with the information. Other embodiments includethe perceived level of importance of each of the at least one memberbeing influenced by at least one of a member rank on a relevant topic, alevel of affinity between the user and each member, a level of expertiseof each member, a level of trust of each member, a level of performanceof past information provided by each member, a level of proficiency ofeach member.

One embodiment includes the affinity between the user and each focal,group member having substantial influence over the ranking assigned toeach focal group member. This can include, for example, the level ofaffinity between the user and each member adaptively varying over timebased on actions of each member, or the user. If for example, the userhas elected to enable the overlay plug-in access to the user's web-emailaccount, then the overlay can infer changes in the affinity betweenfocal group members based on, for example, how often the members sende-mails to each other. The affinity levels can fluctuate over time,based on increase or decrease of e-mailing activity between focal groupmembers. It is to be understood that inferences of affinity variationsare not limited to e-mail interactions between users. That is, othertypes of interactions between focal group members can influence theaffinity between the members as well.

Another embodiment includes executing at least one focal groupapplication within a web browser based on information of the members ofthe focal group. One example of a focal group application includesexecuting the at least one focal group application comprises requestingadditional information from the members of the focal group. That is, forexample, the user can invite or solicit another member of the focalgroup to provide a review/opinion about something. One embodimentadditionally includes overlaying the focal group application's) over aweb page being viewed by the user.

One example of a focal group application allows a user to join a focalgroup purchasing consortium to negotiate a better price with any vendor.A vendor can be any online store, as well as any focal group member. Forone embodiment, a vendor can join a focal group and offer groupdiscounts to focal group members. The focal group application retrievesvendor information relevant to that product and displays it to the userbrowsing another web page with relevant products or information (suchas, pricing, targeted ads, or “sponsored” focal group results).

An example of a focal group overlay application includes an overlaybrowser installed into a user's web browser, and a focal group overlayweb server. An exemplary embodiment of the focal group overlay webserver includes focal network application business logic, a database, anapplication programming interface (API), and connection to a friendnetwork provider. The focal network application business logic caninclude a layer of software code that embodies the actual logical rulesrelated to updating and keeping current all focal group relations, data,and information. The layer of software code includes “business logic” asopposed to the other layers of the code that include common frameworks,web and database infrastructure. The database provides storage for focalgroup contents and focal group information. The API providescommunication to the overlay plug-in. The connection to the friendnetwork provides a connection to at least one of any available socialnetworks.

The described embodiments can be illustrated by one example (a userbrowsing a catalog of products on an online store) of providing a userwith a web-browser supplement. Initially, a user arrives at amerchandise selection webpage in an online store. An overlay plug-insends a uniform resource locator (URL) of the browsed page to a focalgroup overlay web server, invoking a corresponding API call. Inresponse, the focal group overlay server sends information parsing rulesthat allow the overlay plug-in to analyze the content of the page. Theoverlay plug-in analyzes the web page and parses the identityinformation about each particular product, such as product brand,product title, product model, serial number or PLU or barcode. Theoverlay invokes another server API call, passing the collectedinformation to the focal group overlay web server. The focal group webserver can respond, for example, with multiple lists for each identifiedproduct on the page.

An exemplary list can include a list of “experts”. That is, members ofthe focal group sorted by highest proficiency, with names, photos andother information about each member, including any related productreviews created by these members.

Another exemplary list includes a list of “close friends”. That is,members of the focal group sorted by highest affinity, with similarinformation for each member.

Another exemplary list includes a list of “actions” related to thisproduct. The actions list can include a “request review” in which a useris able to ask one or more members of a focal group for anopinion/review of this item. Other action lists can include, forexample, a “Submit review” in which a user can provide his/her ownreview, an “I own it” in which a user can let other members of the focalknow that he/she owns this item, a “Rate it” in which a user provides a“thumbs-up/thumbs-down” type of quick voting button, to let the usercast a rating vote about this product, an “Add to wish list” in which auser can let other focal group members know that this is an item he/shedoesn't mind receiving as a gift, and a “Group bargain” in which a usercan add him/herself into a group of people who want to team up forbuying this item at a bulk discount.

As previously described, the focal group overlay can include focal groupapplications. The focal group overlay can include, for example, anaction button (or icon) that invokes a specialized focal groupapplication. The plug-in can render (creates visual elements for), forexample, two lists of focal group members (reviews of experts & reviewsof friends) as welt as action icons/buttons that enhance the currentlybrowsed page. The resulting page that is displayed to the user, is amerge of the original product page, as sent by the web server of theonline store, plus the elements created by the overlay plug-in. Theadditional visual elements (pictures of focal group experts/friends andaction buttons) are displayed next to the related product items on thepage. The user can click on (select) any friend or expert's photo orname, and read the review or rating for each product. Additionally, theuser can click on any “action” icon to invoke the corresponding action.This way, the user is able to use the knowledge of his/her focal groupto help decide on the purchase of a product. Using the “action” icons,the user contributes to the knowledge of his focal group (e.g. byproviding his/her own review, or by requesting a review).

An embodiment of the web-browser supplement allows, for example, thirdparty developers to add their own focal group applications. One exampleof a focal group application includes a mini-button or an icon displayednext to any item on the page that is recognized by the overlay as atarget item (i.e. around which the overlay creates some enhancedcontent, or filtering, or sorting). Additionally, a set of configurationdirectives specifying the kinds of items (products, services, etc.) thatthis application are enabled for one or multiple web-pages of theapplication that augment the existing web-pages within the focal groupoverlay web server. The existing web-pages are the web-pages that theusers see when they click on the mini-button. These items can beuploaded by a focal group application developer to the focal groupoverlay web server via, for example, a special application-registrationform.

For an embodiment, all focal group applications, including thoseprovided within the focal group overlay website by default, use the sameAPI to retrieve and manipulate focal net information. The focal groupAPI provides the focal group application with access to the focal netinformation. The focal net information can include, but not limited to,social graph links, affinity and proficiency information, user profileinformation (as restricted by the user's access preferences), focalgroup affiliation, user-created reviews, ratings, and/or anyuser-related information contributed/created by other focal groupapplications.

Another embodiment includes providing user web browsing results to otherwebsites, and mining additional information from the other websites foradditionally supplementing the web browsing by the user. For example, ifa user is looking at a camera of brand “A” in an online photographystore, the focal group application can send relevant information to acamera-maker company of brand “B”. The camera-maker company can thensend competitive pricing information on the same or comparable product.The information about camera “B” can then be presented to the userbrowsing information about camera “A” via overlay's enhancing the webpage. As a result, the user is better informed about comparableproducts.

As previously described, the information associated with member of thefocal group can be adaptively updated. For example, one embodimentincludes adaptively updating the information associated with the atleast one member based on web browsing of the user. Another embodimentincludes adaptively updating the information associated with the atleast one member based on web browsing of the members. For example, if afocal group member is considered an expert in tennis (that is, has ahigh focal group proficiency rating) and is buying a tennis racquet inan online store, the information about the purchase may be considereduseful, and therefore, is sent to the focal group and appended to therest of the existing focal group information.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show examples of visual displays that adaptively depictthe relationships between a user and other members of a focal group. Therelationships depicted can include, for example, the reliability of onemember of the focal group, or an affinity of members of the focal groupwith a user.

FIG. 4A shows a first focal group member F1 and a second focal groupmember F2. As shown, the first focal group member F1 has a firstactivity A1 (for example, playing tennis) involving the second focalgroup member F2, and the first focal group member F1 has a secondactivity A2 (for example, purchase of a product) involving or associatedwith the second focal group member F2. Based on the activities betweenthe focal group members, rankings of the focal group members can beinfluenced. The rankings can represent the reliability and/or theaffinity of each member with other members of the focal group. Clearly,the ranking can adaptively vary over time as interactions between thefocal group members occur.

FIG. 4B provides another depiction of the relationship(s) between focalgroup members, and provides a relative strength of the relationship(s)between the focal group members. As shown, the first focal group memberF1 has varying degrees of closeness with the other focal group membersF2, F3, F4. The “closeness” can depict an affinity between the firstfocal group member F1 and the other focal group members F2, F3, F4. Asshown, the first focal group member F1 has a high level of affinity withthe second focal group member F2 because the two members are depicted asbeing closer to one another. The first focal group member F1 has a loweraffinity with the fourth focal group member because they are depicted asbeing farther from each other. This display provides an informativemethod for a focal group member to establish the levels of affinitybetween the focal group member and other focal group members.

It is to be understood that the displays of FIGS. 4A, 4B are merelyexemplary, and that other displays can alternatively or additionally beused to visually display to a user the strengths of relationshipsbetween the user and other focal group members.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart that includes steps of an example of a method ofoverlaying web browsing with focal group intelligence. A first step 510includes creating a focal group, the focal group including at least oneother user having at least one association with the user. A second step520 includes obtaining information about the at least one other userhaving relevance to the focal group. A third step 530 includesoverlaying web browsing by the user, thereby supplementing the webbrowsing by the user by providing information of the other users of thefocal group.

As previously described, the overlay can be a plug-in that can be loadedon a user's computing device. The overlay enables a transformation ofthe state of information displayed on the user's computing devices,thereby supplementing the displayed information based on information ofthe other users of the focal group.

Although specific embodiments of the embodiments have been described andillustrated, the invention is not to be limited to the specific forms orarrangements of parts so described and illustrated. The invention islimited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed:
 1. A method of providing a user with a web supplement,comprising: providing, by a focal group server, access to a computingdevice to a focal group of the focal group server through a networkconnection, the focal group comprising at least one member having atleast one association with the user, wherein the focal group comprises arestricted group of people who are associated based on activity ortopic; providing, by the focal group server, access to the computingdevice to information associated with the at least one member havingrelevance to the focal group, wherein the information is ranked by alevel of importance, wherein the rank by the level of importance of theinformation is based on at least one of a member rank on a relevanttopic, a level of affinity between the user and each member, a level ofexpertise of each member, a level of performance of past informationprovided by each member, a level of proficiency of each member;adaptively updating the information associated with the at least onemember having relevance to the focal group based on web activity of theuser; and supplementing the user by providing information of the membersof the focal group, comprising providing overlaying of the rankedinformation associated with the at least one member on a web applicationdisplayed on the computing device that is related to information of theweb application, comprising manipulating the information of the webapplication based on the ranked information.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein supplementing the user comprises executing a plug-in loaded onthe computing device to supplement web browsing displayed on thecomputing device.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising theplug-in providing the user with a web overlay.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein execution of the plug-in provides the user with the web overlaythat supplements web browsing by the user, the web overlay providing theinformation associated with the at least one member that has relevanceto the web browsing of the user.
 5. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising the plug-in having access to the focal group, and havingaccess to the information associated with the at least one member of thefocal group.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein supplementing webbrowsing comprises an overlay to web browsing displayed by the computingdevice of the user.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein manipulating theinformation of the web page based on the ranked information includesfiltering information of the at least one member of the focal group. 8.The method of claim 6, wherein manipulating the information of the webpage based on the ranked information includes sorting information of theat least one member of the focal group.
 9. The method of claim 1,further comprising at least one of filtering, sorting or appendinginformation to information of a web page based on the informationassociated with the at least one member.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein the level of affinity between the user and each memberadaptively varies over time based on actions of each member, or theuser.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising executing at leastone focal group application within a web browser based on information ofthe members of the focal group.
 12. The method of claim 11, whereinexecuting the at least one focal group application comprises requestingadditional information from the members of the focal group.
 13. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising overlaying the focal groupapplications over a web page being viewed by the user.
 14. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising providing user web browsing results to otherwebsites, and mining additional information from the other websites foradditionally supplementing the web browsing by the user.
 15. The methodof claim 1, further comprising adaptively updating the informationassociated with the at least one member based on web browsing of theuser.
 16. The method of claim 1, further comprising adaptively updatingthe information associated with the at least one member based on webbrowsing of the members.
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein overlayingof the ranked information comprises a social application overlay. 18.The method of claim 1, wherein overlaying of the ranked informationcomprises a focal network overlay.